The good news: Clark County’s spate of 90-degree days may soon be coming to an end. The bad news: Things are going to get worse before they get better.
The National Weather Service in Portland has declared an excessive heat watch to take effect from midday Sunday to Monday evening. Daytime highs are expected to be in the mid- to upper 90s, possibly reaching 101 degrees. Overnight lows will be in the lower 60s, though they could rise to the upper 60s in urban areas.
Meteorologist David Bishop said that the temperature was expected to drop again in the middle of the week, but he expects the temperature to rise soon thereafter.
“We’ve got a nice little trough that’s coming in through the area during the midweek, and that’s looking like that should cool us down into the upper 70s to the mid-80s,” he said.
Additionally, wildfires in Southern Oregon and Northern California have led to air quality alerts in parts of Oregon. Though Bishop said that there was no smoke advisory for the Portland area, the weather service’s extended forecast predicted areas of smoke on Sunday and Monday.
BPA on alert
The rising temperatures also have the Bonneville Power Administration bracing for increased electricity demand. Last year’s heat wave drove BPA customers to use record amounts of power.
Kieran Connolly, vice president of generation asset management, said that the BPA will “do everything we can to prepare for heat waves.” The BPA’s preparations include repositioning water in reservoirs to maximize energy output and postponing noncritical maintenance activities.
One way for consumers to save energy is to find other ways of cooling off, such as taking a dip in a pond. Just in time for the heat wave, Clark County Public Health lifted the swim beach warning for Klineline Pond on Friday. On Tuesday, one of five test samples of the pond’s water contained elevated levels of E. coli; subsequent tests showed that the pond had acceptable water quality levels.
Earlier in the week, Battle Ground Lake also had a swim beach warning lifted after it was investigated as the potential source of a bacterial infection.
Vancouver Lake, though open, remains under warning due to a blue-green algae bloom.
Warning signs will stay up as long as the bloom is present.
Staff writer Wyatt Stayner contributed to this story.
